Quest of the Elements
by OnlyHere4Puckabrina
Summary: When Nightmare Moon rises and throws Equestria into eternal night, six heroes must come forth to claim the fabled Elements of Harmony and defeat her. An alternate version of the first two episodes with different timeline.
1. Chapter 1: Introduction

**Hello bronies and pegasisters! This is my first multi-chapter fanfiction, and it's just an alternate version to the first two episodes. The timeline's different, so things have happened at different points. I've already got it all written out, but will be uploading weekly so I can respond to any comments along the way. I welcome questions and (constructive) criticism!**

 **So, disclaimer: I may use actual points from the show, so they, the characters and the world of Equestria does not belong to me.**

 **Very short intro to start off with. The chapters will get longer, I promise. Into the story!**

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Two royal sisters, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna ruled the peaceful land of Equestria side by side and together, they kept balance and harmony among their subjects. Celestia, a tall white alicorn with a flowing mane of pink, blue and green, was in charge of raising the sun every morning, and Luna, a dark blue alicorn with a glittery mane and tail like the night sky, for raising the moon every night.

At length though, Luna began to grow jealous of her elder sister. The ponies of Equestria loved the daytime, but slept through her beautiful night. And the jealousy and anger that built up inside the alicorn transformed her into a dark pony called Nightmare Moon.

Celestia knew that she had no choice but to use Equestria's most powerful weapon against her sister, though it broke her heart to do so. So she called forth the Elements of Harmony, which she and Luna had used themselves to keep Equestria so peaceful. Even their most powerful enemies were powerless against the elements.

…

But they didn't work.

When Celestia tried to use the Elements of Harmony against Nightmare Moon, they did nothing. Nightmare Moon laughed maniacally and shot a beam at Celestia. Celestia dodged and quickly gathered the Elements together again.

She flew through the hallways of her and Luna's castle until she had left her sister far behind, then made her way to a small chest, in which she packed the six jewels that were the Elements of Harmony.

She had barely closed the lid of the chest when Nightmare Moon found her. Celestia shot a beam at her and then trapped her in a force field. She knew it would not hold the dark creature for long, but it would at least give her enough time to escape.

When Nightmare Moon broke free of the force field, she flew up into the sky and caught sight of Celestia fleeing into the forest, but she couldn't see the small chest floating in front of her. She laughed loudly. "Thank you for running away, dear sister. Now my night will last FOREVER!"

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 **Quick note: there are two palaces mentioned in this fanfic. The Castle of the Two Sisters doesn't get mentioned again, but they do have another palace in Canterlot. For the purposes of the story, imagine the Canterlot palace is for conducting royal business and such and the Castle of the Two Sisters is their actual home.**


	2. Chapter 2: The Element of Magic

**I own nothing.**

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Celestia went to a school for unicorns for which she herself was the patron. Many of the students here had been hand-picked by her, and all of them were talented in the field of magic. She knew there was a good chance that Nightmare Moon would find her here, but she also thought that the school was probably one of the best defended places in Equestria, with a strong unicorn force to put up a fight against Nightmare Moon, if she happened to attack. The main reason Celestia had gone to the school however, was to speak with her personal pupil, Twilight Sparkle.

Twilight's family had served Princess Celestia for several generations, and had always been loyal. The current generation, Twilight and her brother Shining Armour, were particularly devoted, as Twilight was not only Celestia's protégée, but Shining Armour was the captain of her guard.

Twilight had a purple coat and eyes. Her mane-cut was straight and had a streak of dark blue and magenta through it. "Are these really the Elements of Harmony?!" she squealed when Celestia had opened the chest. "Which one is which? How exactly do they work? Oh my gosh, I don't believe this!"

Celestia waited for her student's raptures to subside and Twilight to remember the fact that they were in grave danger. Sure enough, she soon calmed down and said, "But why wouldn't they work? After all, you've used them before…" Twilight began to pace up and down the room, muttering to herself.

Then she stopped and turned to Celestia. "First things first," she said. "We need to make a list. Spike!"

A small purple dragon with green spines and emerald-coloured reptile eyes appeared at her side, holding a piece of parchment and a quill. "Ready!" Spike replied, in the fashion of a soldier speaking to their commanding officer.

"Alright now," Twilight said with a smile, "tell us everything you know about the Elements, Princess Celestia."

Celestia took a deep breath. "The Elements are an ancient magic. No one truly understands them. However, I do know that they can only be wielded by someone who truly emulates the qualities of them. Honesty, Laughter, Generosity, Loyalty and Kindness."

"That's only five," Twilight pointed out with a frown.

"The sixth is even more of a mystery than the others," Celestia replied. "But, I believe it is magic. It can only be activated by the presence of the other five. They are meant to restore things to a natural state of harmony. My sister and I used them to banish the Changelings, Tirek and Discord from Equestria."

"Uhh…who?" Twilight and Spike asked.

"Some of our enemies who have tried to take over Equestria over the years."

"Okay," Spike said, scrawling more words on his parchment.

"And now you cannot use them?" Twilight asked.

Celestia shook her head, her multi-coloured mane flowing magically about her face.

"Well," Twilight murmured, starting to pace again, "if the elements can only be used by ponies who emulate the qualities they represent, perhaps it's possible that you no longer represent the qualities as you once did…"

She lapsed into silence, brow furrowed. "So what changed?" she muttered.

"Luna!"

Twilight and Spike both jumped at the princess' outburst.

"Of course," Celestia realised. "Luna and I were able to use them together, because together we kept Equestria balanced. But now that Luna…now that we are no longer using them together, we no longer represent the Elements of Harmony. The Elements must now be wielded by different ponies in order to defeat Nightmare Moon."

Twilight thought this over and started nodding. "Yes… That makes sense. But that means that the Elements now answer to other ponies, and we have no idea who they could be!"

Celestia smiled. "I wouldn't say no idea. I can perform a small spell to lead us in the right direction."

The alicorn bowed her head over the Elements, and her long white horn glowed with a yellow light as she cast a spell over them. When she raised her head, she walked across the room to a mirror hanging above Twilight's fireplace. She touched her horn to it, and the mirror suddenly showed a picture of an apple farm. Before they had a chance to get a good look though, the image shifted to a rock farm, then just as quickly to a shop in Canterlot, a town square that looked as though it had fallen to pieces, and a forest. The final image showed the school they were already in.

"Six images…" Spike marvelled.

"One for each of the Elements," Twilight said.

"And one of them is in this school," Celestia added.

"But that still doesn't tell us who it might be!" Twilight muttered with frustration.

"At least it narrows it down," Spike pointed out.

Celestia meanwhile had turned back to the chest of Elements. Her eyes fell on the pink jewel, which was shaped like a star. She glanced at Twilight, and saw her cutie mark on her flank. A pink star, surrounded by five smaller white stars. She smiled.

"I believe," she said, interrupting Spike and Twilight's argument, "that I have found one of the Element bearers."

"You have?!" Spike and Twilight gasped.

"This Element," Celestia said, levitating the pink jewel out of the chest, "bears a striking resemblance to your cutie mark."

Twilight and Spike looked from the jewel to Twilight's flank several times. "You don't mean…" Twilight started.

Celestia only smiled and nodded at her.

"No! That's impossible! I can't be one of the Element bearers!"

"It does look just like your cutie mark, Twilight," Spike said. "That's a pretty big coincidence."

"Well, it _is_ a coincidence," Twilight snorted angrily. "Because I'm not good at one of those Elements! Laughter, or generosity—"

"But you _are_ good at magic," Celestia reminded gently. "The sixth element was to be found in this school, and where better to find the spirit of magic than here?"

"But—"

"Just try," she urged, holding the jewel out to her.

Twilight hesitated a little longer, then the yellow glow around the jewel changed to pink as the unicorn's magic encased it. It did not last long, however. Suddenly the Element was glowing with a white light that made all three of them cry out and take a step back. When it faded, they saw that a golden crown had formed around the jewel, which floated up and landed itself on Twilight's head.

Twilight gaped. Spike dropped his parchment and quill. Celestia beamed.

"You are the Element of Magic, Twilight."

Her student stared at her. "What does that mean?"

Celestia drew herself up and fixed her with a regal stare. "It means you must track down the other five Elements, and together you must stop Nightmare Moon."

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 **Another short chapter, but there wasn't really much to happen. This was just the explanation to set up the rest of the story. This is one of the shorter chapters.**

 **Please review, and see if you can guess where the other Mane Six will be found! Most should be pretty easy, but I'm hoping a couple will be more difficult.**


	3. Chapter 3: The Element of Generosity

**Hello again everyone! Thank you to matthewszabo24 for following my story! I hope you are enjoying it.**

 **To everyone reading, please review so I know how I'm going.**

 **So, on to the third chapter!**

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Twilight and Spike were making their way through the streets of Canterlot. The five unclaimed Elements were tucked into Twilight's saddlebag, and the crown was in the other side. They had to push through a crowd of ponies, who were standing around, muttering with astonishment as they looked up at the sky still full of stars.

"What's going on?"

"Why hasn't the sun risen?"

"It's meant to be the Summer Sun Celebration!"

"Nightmare Moon sure picked a good time to seize control of Equestria," Spike remarked. "The Summer Sun Celebration can't go on, Celestia is seriously undermined, causing chaos and panic, making it easier to control everyone."

"Don't worry, Spike," Twilight reassured him. "Princess Celestia is going to speak to everyone and tell them what has happened – not as much as we know, but enough to let them know what's going on – and they might still be a bit scared, but they will support the princess and protect her."

"You really think so?"

"Of course. Celestia still has her royal guard, and Shining Armour will do whatever he has to to protect her, and you know everyone in her school will come to her aid as well. The rest of Canterlot loves her as well, and they will do their part."

"I hope so," the dragon murmured.

"We have our own job to help the princess, Spike," Twilight reminded him. "We need to find the shop where we can find one of the Elements."

"In all of Canterlot?!" Spike gasped. "There must be a million shops here!"

"Yes, I know. But I think we can narrow it down a bit. It was a dress shop, and it had a palm tree outside. So, I think we're looking in the fashion district, specifically, Rodeo Drive."

"Rodeo Drive?" Spike asked, wrinkling his nose. "That doesn't sound like a road with fashion."

"It's a misnomer, Spike," Twilight said.

"What's a misnomer?"

"It means the name is misleading," she explained.

Sure enough, Rodeo Drive did not look like the place any rodeo pony would be caught dead. The street did not have a speck of dust on it, the few ponies walking up and down the street were dressed in ridiculously fancy outfits with their noses in the air. All of them glanced at the purple duo with expressions ranging from confusion to anger to amusement. Whichever it was, it was clear that they did not belong on this street.

They ignored the stares, however, and continued slowly up the street, looking hard at all the shops they passed for a resemblance of the image that had appeared in Twilight's mirror.

"There!" Twilight called when they were about three-quarters along the road.

Spike looked the way she was pointing, and saw a shopfront exactly like the image. It was a white building with a large window on the right side of the door displaying fashionable outfits. Two steps led up to the door, above which was written in elegant writing _"Canterlot Boutique"_.

"What Element do you think we'll find here?" Spike asked.

"I don't know," Twilight answered. "I guess we'll just have to find out."

They stepped up and through the door. Inside, two or three ponies were browsing the racks of clothes, and a couple more were coming in and out of the changing rooms. A tall yellow unicorn mare came to greet them.

"Hello!" she called. "Welcome to the Canterlot Boutique! I am Sassy Saddles. How may I help you?"

"Uh…we're not really sure…" Twilight said, but she was cut off by Spike.

"Who is THAT?!" he gasped.

Both mares turned to where he was pointing, and saw a white unicorn mare with a styled purple mane and tail, long lashes framing big blue eyes and three diamonds for a cutie mark. She was helping another mare sort through the racks of clothing, pulling various outfits out and holding them up to her, then throwing them aside, always with words like, "Too shiny, too blue, too yellow, too many ruffles…" Within a few seconds, she gasped in delight and cried, "Yes! This is the one! Do you like it, dear?"

"Oh, it's perfect!" gushed the brown earth mare, gazing down at the green dress with subtle shades of pink shot through it that the unicorn held up.

"Yes, this dress was _made_ for you," the unicorn agreed. "Shall I wrap it up for you?"

"Yes please."

The unicorn led the earth mare to the counter, and Sassy turned back to Twilight and Spike. "That's Rarity. She runs the boutique. She's a genius, and should be able to help you with whatever you need."

"Rarity…" Spike sighed. "She's gorgeous…"

Sassy was leading them towards the counter to speak to the white unicorn, Spike floating along after her with hearts in his eyes. Twilight snatched him back and hissed in his ear. "Spike! Remember we're supposed to be looking for an Element bearer!"

Spike just smiled dreamily.

Twilight stepped on his tail.

"Ouch! What was that for?" he cried angrily.

"We can't get distracted!" Twilight told him.

"Well, we were sent here to find the Element, weren't we? So it's probably the owner or the assistant. She'll at least be able to point us in the right direction."

Twilight had to admit he had a point, and so followed Sassy towards the counter, where the brown earth mare was just leaving.

"Rarity!" Sassy called. "I have a young mare here who isn't quite sure what she's looking for. I thought you might like to help."

Rarity turned to them and positively giggled with delight. She instantly popped herself over to Twilight's side and peered at her. "Yes… something understated. Nothing too flashy, I think."

"Actually—" Twilight began.

"But also elegant, almost regal…"

"We're actually not here to—"

"And we need to match the colour! Yes, I think a nice navy blue would look divine! Ah, I've got it!"

A navy blue gown suddenly appeared on Twilight's body, twinkling with tiny diamonds so that she looked just like the sky outside.

"Ah!" Rarity squealed, "it's perfect! You're simply beautiful, darling!"

Twilight looked at herself in bewilderment, then to Spike for help. But Spike was still gazing dreamily at Rarity and didn't seem to notice her predicament. "Uh, it's a beautiful dress, but—" But she was cut off again.

"And what shall we do for the little man?" Rarity said, turning towards Spike. "We certainly don't have much to do, do we? You're already a- _dor_ -able!"

Spike blushed, but before he could speak, Rarity had already subjected him to a makeover, dressing him in a green jacket with gold buttons.

"There!" Rarity cried.

Twilight and Spike glanced at each other, then looked back at Rarity. "Actually, Miss Rarity," Twilight said, "we're not here to buy anything."

"You're not?" Rarity asked, frowning with disappointment. Their outfits vanished with a pop. Her disappointment lasted only a few seconds though, and she smiled at them again. "In that case, how can I help you?"

"Well," Twilight hesitated, "it's rather a long story."

"Of course, dear. Come into my workroom and tell me." She led them through a door into a studio filled with sewing machines, bolts of fabric, mannequins and various tools scattered haphazardly around. Rarity made her way to a table that held a tea set and poured them out a drink each. "Go on, darling. I hope you don't mind if I work while you tell your story?"

Twilight shook her head no, and then proceeded to explain Princess Celestia's visit and the story of the Elements of Harmony. She tried not to go into too much detail, as she wasn't totally sure about Rarity, but the fashionista had seemed friendly and hospitable so far, and Twilight, despite the awkwardness of the first few minutes of their acquaintance, was feeling unusually comfortable around her.

Rarity listened closely, and it wasn't long into Twilight's tale that she had stopped flitting around the room, instead focussing all her attention on her guest.

"I wondered why the sun hadn't risen…" she murmured in a worried tone.

"We were hoping you might be able to lead us to one of the Element bearers," Twilight explained.

"Hmm. Well, that might be a bit tricky, darling. Ponies don't exactly walk around with _"Element Bearer"_ plastered over their foreheads. But I will certainly help you find them if I can."

"One of them was supposed to be found in your shop."

"In the Canterlot Boutique?! Oh my!" Rarity looked on the point of fainting with delight. She gathered herself together and asked tentatively, "Um, would you mind if…if I took a look at these Elements?"

Twilight hesitated, then opened her saddlebag and levitated the five jewels out for Rarity to look at.

The white unicorn's eyes sparkled at the sight of them. "Oh, they're _fabulous_ , darling! Simply divine! And, they've just given me an inspiration for a new line!" She squealed and popped across the room to one of her sewing machines, which began to go to work on a piece of fabric Rarity had pulled down from the shelves.

Twilight and Spike watched in amazement as Rarity snipped out templates and stitched them together at a mind boggling speed. Within ten minutes, she had covered a mannequin with a shimmery purple gown and had moved on to a roll of pale pink fabric. As she worked, she talked.

"I must thank you for the idea for this line; it's going to be amazing! I know, I'll make you a gift to say thank you. What can I—ah ha!" She lifted the navy blue dress and green jacket she had dressed them in, which had been transported back to two coat hangers in the work room and folded them both neatly into their own separate boxes. "I'll give you these! They really are perfect for you both!"

"Oh, no, we couldn't possibly—" Twilight argued, but Rarity held up her hoof.

"Nonsense, darling. I want you to have them, as just a small token of my thanks. Besides, I really couldn't imagine selling them to someone else, now that I've seen how they look on you."

"Well that's…that's very generous of you."

"Oh it's nothing, darling! I love making outfits for my friends, only since I opened my boutique in Canterlot I've been kept busy managing it, and I haven't been able to see my friends from Ponyville in ages."

Twilight stared at the levitating Elements in thought. "Spike, I think you may be right…" she murmured to her assistant, but Spike's attention was still on Rarity. Twilight shook her head in exasperation. "Rarity?" she called to the other unicorn.

"Mmm?" Rarity said, now stitching together a red dress.

"Can you come over here?"

Rarity turned to her in bewilderment. "Uh, alright." She walked back over to Twilight.

Twilight moved the jewels towards her until they formed a shimmering necklace. Rarity watched her with surprise. As soon as the purple jewel touched the white unicorn's neck, there was a flash of bright light. Twilight, Rarity and Spike all looked away until it dimmed. When they looked again, the purple jewel had formed itself into a diamond like the ones in Rarity's cutie mark, and was held at her throat by a golden necklace.

"Oh! How divine!" squealed Rarity. "But… What does this mean?" She looked to Twilight.

"It means you're the Element of Generosity," Twilight marvelled.

Rarity's eyelashes fluttered as she blinked rapidly. "M-me?!"

Twilight nodded.

"Oh…well I, I mean…" Rarity took a deep breath. "Very well. I shall come with you to help find the other Elements, Twilight Sparkle, and stop Nightmare Moon."

"YES!" Spike cheered, leaping into the air.

The girls stared at him, and he blushed.

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 **Yeah, I thought it would be cool if there was actually a Rodeo Drive in Equestria.**

 **Two elements down, four to go! Has anyone guessed where the other Mane Six are hiding?**


	4. Chapter 4: The Element of Laughter

**Oh my gosh! THREE followers! Thank you so much guys! The support means so much, I hope you're enjoying the story!**

 **I own nothing.**

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"So the other Element bearers can be found on an apple farm, a rock farm, a forest and a destroyed town centre?" Rarity asked.

"That's right," Twilight said. "We're headed to the rock farm now. Princess Celestia told me where I could find it."

"But what about the others?"

"They might be a bit harder. There a lot of forests and apple farms in Equestria, and neither of us recognised the town square we saw."

"Hmm," said Rarity thoughtfully, "what did the apple farm look like?"

"It looked like this." Twilight walked to a creek and touched her horn to the water. Summoning the picture of the apple farm from her memory, she projected it onto the water.

"I know that farm!" Rarity said excitedly as the red barn with a rooster weathervane came into view. "It's Sweet Apple Acres. My friend Applejack lives there, just outside Ponyville."

"Really?" Twilight asked, catching her excitement. "Then she can help us find another Element bearer. They must live on the farm with her!"

Rarity tossed her mane. "Actually, it wouldn't surprise me if Applejack _was_ the Element bearer."

"Really?"

"You said one of them was honesty, right? Well, Applejack _always_ tells the truth. She's famous for it in Ponyville. Everyone there always relies on her word."

"That means there's only three more Elements to find!" Twilight cried.

"Indeed, so let's get to this rock farm and find one of them!"

The two unicorns picked up their pace, though Twilight knew they were still a long way from reaching the rock farm.

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It was late the next day when they finally reached the rock farm. At least, they guessed it was in the late day, as they had walked for a long time after waking up. But the moon was still high in the sky, so they didn't know for sure.

They were walking through piles of boulders, however, when they almost ran into a pony right in front of them. Her coat was so grey they hadn't seen her in the moonlight. The only reason they had noticed her was her pale blue eyes glinting as she stared at them.

"Um… hello," Twilight said.

The pale eyes blinked once, and the pony said, "Hello," in a deadpan voice.

The two unicorns looked at each other, then back at the strange mare. Twilight increased her light so that she could examine her more closely. She was an earth pony. Apart from her grey coat and creepily pale blue eyes, she had a straight purple mane and tail and was wearing a dark grey dress that looked more like a sack. Twilight noticed Rarity winced when she caught sight of it. Her face held absolutely no expression.

"We're looking for the Pie family's rock farm?" Twilight tried.

The strange mare just stared at her.

"Do you know where it is?"

"Yes," said the monotone voice.

They waited. When the mare didn't say anything else, Rarity said, "Could you tell us, please?"

"Yes."

There was another long pause, until Twilight finally said, "Where is it?"

"You're on it." The mare pointed behind them, and the two unicorns cast their lights back to see that they had just passed a wooden fence that must have marked the boundary to the rock farm.

"Oh, well, good," Twilight said brightly, turning back to the earth mare, who had gone back to examining the rocks at her feet. "Then maybe you can help us. We're looking for a pony who might be able to wield one of the Elements of Harmony. Loyalty, kindness, or laughter."

"That's my sister."

"Excuse me?" Twilight asked.

The blue eyes were fixed unblinkingly on her again. "My sister is the Element of Laughter."

Twilight, Rarity and Spike all stared at her. Finally, Rarity said, "Uh…your sister?"

Twilight secretly agreed with her disbelief. This pony didn't look as though she knew how to smile, let alone laugh. How was it possible that her sister could be the Element of Laughter? Twilight couldn't imagine a reason for this mare to lie about it, but the only other option was that she was playing a strange joke on them, and that seemed equally as unlikely. Whatever the case may be, they had reached the place where they would find another Element bearer, so she thought they might as well investigate.

"Will you…take us to your sister…please?" she asked tentatively.

"Sure," said the mare. She turned and started to lead them further into the piles of boulders. Twilight and Rarity followed hesitantly.

There were no signs of trees or grass in any direction Twilight could see; only rocks. It looked like the dullest place in Equestria, which made her wonder how the Element of Laughter could be here. Then again, if she thought about it, she probably wouldn't have expected to find the Element of Generosity on Rodeo Drive, either.

The grey pony led them to a small shack that looked as boring as the rest of the farm. The only interesting thing about it was a massive boulder, shaped like a giant egg, that sat outside. Through the door they went, and found themselves in a kitchen-dining-seating area. A fireplace stood at one end of the room, and a staircase at the back led up to what Twilight assumed must be bedrooms. In the kitchen stood another earth mare, as brightly pink as their guide was grey, with crazy hair – also pink – that looked like cotton candy. They could see that her cutie mark consisted of three balloons: two blue with a yellow one in the middle. The only similarity Twilight could see between her and the grey mare were their eyes, which were both blue. The pink mare was using her hair to stir something in a large bowl and humming merrily.

"Pinkie Pie," said the grey mare dully.

Pinkie Pie turned, caught sight of Twilight, Spike and Rarity, and gave a mighty gasp that lifted her whole body off the floor and caused her mane and tail to stand on end.

"We have guests?! Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh! This calls for a PARTY!" She suddenly turned into a pink blur as she bounced around the room, including off the walls and ceiling. Twilight hadn't known that so much energy could be contained in one pony.

All of a sudden she had come to a dead stop right in front of them. "Maud," she said to the grey mare, "go get Mum, Dad and our sisters. We'll give them a proper Pie welcome! I'm going to get my party cannon!"

"Wait!" Twilight cried, before the mare could disappear again. "We're looking for—"

But the pink mare cut her off. "WAIT!" She leaned forwards so far Twilight had to take a step back to avoid their muzzles colliding. The pink mare then fixed her with a stare as unblinking as her sister's. Perhaps there were similarities between them after all, was all Twilight had time to think before the mare suddenly returned to a respectable distance and chirped, "You're looking for the four other bearers of the Elements of Harmony, one of which can be found here on our rock farm, because the Elements can no longer be wielded by the two princesses, because Princess Luna has gone CRAY-CRAY and turned into Nightmare Moon, who wants to have eternal night, so Princess Celestia brought the Elements to you, and it's your job to find the five other bearers, one of which you've already found. Then together you're going to stop Nightmare Moon."

Three jaws hit the floor. Maud shut their mouths without any change of expression.

"How did you know _that_?!" Twilight gaped.

"Just a hunch," Pinkie Pie replied with a dazzling smile. "Well, except the part about Princess Luna turning into Nightmare Moon. Everyone knows that, silly!"

"You're sister thinks you might be the Element of Laughter," Rarity stammered.

"Oooh, really? That's so exciting! Isn't that exciting, Maud?!" Pinkie gasped.

"Yes," Maud said, not looking the least bit excited.

"Do you mind if we test it?" Twilight asked.

"Sure," Pinkie Pie answered brightly.

Twilight opened her saddlebag and drew out the blue jewel Celestia had identified as the Element of Laughter with her magic. She touched it to Pinkie Pie's neck, and just like with Rarity's, there was a flash of light that caused them all to avert their eyes and next moment, a golden necklace had appeared, holding a balloon-shaped jewel in place.

Twilight and Rarity beamed at each other.

"Three down, three to go," Twilight said triumphantly.

"Next stop, Sweet Apple Acres!" Rarity cried.

"But first," said Pinkie, "let's PAARRTY!"

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 **I really do love Maud's sense of humour. It was really fun to add to the story, because she's not a character we see a lot of. And of course, I get to add the always-adorable Pinkie Pie.**

 **Please review and I'll talk to you next week!**

 **Love OnlyHere4Puckabrina**


	5. Chapter 5: The Element of Honesty

**It's my longest chapter so far! Hurrah! Thanks again to my followers. Love you guys!**

 **Usual disclaimer.**

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Twilight, Rarity and Spike stayed at the Pie's house that 'night'. They were exhausted, not from their journey, but because Pinkie had insisted on throwing a welcome-guests-slash-we're-going-to-go-and-save-the-world party, and made everyone stay up late dancing.

Twilight had been glad to have a roof to sleep under, though she was infinitely grateful for the pink pony's presence, as the rest of the family were very much like Maud, and Twilight had had no idea what to say to any of them. Their expressionless faces gave no clue as to what they were really feeling; they seemed totally indifferent to their daughter and sisters' planning to set off on a dangerous quest the very next day. Luckily, Pinkie had always been there to ease the awkwardness.

In fact, with her bright smile and endless cheerful energy, Twilight couldn't imagine her ever making anyone feel uncomfortable. It was easy to see that she was the Element of Laughter. It was not so easy to see how her family were so much different, but Twilight decided not to worry too much about it.

They set off the next morning-

"We did? But I thought that was when-"

Okay yes Pinkie, it was still dark, but it was around the time it should be morning, and it'll save a lot of confusion to use regular times of day.

"Okey dokey lokey!"

...and the Pie family waved them off.

Pinkie hugged her sisters goodbye. When she reached Maud, who was last, Maud said, "Take care Pinkie." Her voice was almost emotional, and Pinkie nodded with a tear in her eye.

"I'll miss you guys," she cried, flinging her hooves around her parents. They patted her awkwardly on the back, then Pinkie joined Twilight, Rarity and Spike. The four companions waved at the Pies one last time and then headed off.

"So which way to Ponyville?" Twilight asked Rarity as they passed the boundary fence.

"Ooh, ooh, I know! It's this way!" Pinkie shouted, apparently over her tearful separation with her family. She bounded ahead of the others.

Twilight glanced at Rarity, who nodded, and they followed after the cheerful mare.

The journey was uneventful, although Pinkie would dart from place to place exclaiming over everything. It was fruitless to try and keep up with her, so the unicorns walked at their own pace, their horns showing the way. Pinkie was left to amuse herself and follow along behind, or ahead, or _around_ them as the mood struck her. Whenever she actually felt like walking beside them, she didn't so much as walk as bounce, chattering excitedly.

If nothing else, Twilight thought, she kept them from dwelling on the awful things that might be happening in Equestria.

So, between conversation between the three mares and Spike, watching Pinkie's antics and a spontaneous song brought on by Pinkie, they managed to find themselves in Ponyville in a much shorter time than Twilight would have thought possible, just under two days.

From there, Rarity led them towards Sweet Apple Acres, which was situated just outside the village. The big red barn with the rooster weathervane surrounded by apple trees looked just like Twilight's image.

As they approached the door to the house, Twilight, Spike and Pinkie all fell a little behind, letting Rarity knock on the door.

It was opened by a green earth mare, her mane and tail white with age. She squinted at them. "What?! Who's there?!"

"Good, uh, evening, Granny Smith," Rarity said. "It's lovely to see you again!"

"Who?!"

"I was just looking for Applejack."

"Who are you?!"

"Um…Rarity. Remember me, Applejack's friend?"

The old mare peered at her, then snorted. "Don't recognise ya. But if yerr lookin' for Applejack, all the yung'uns are in the orchard." She then slammed the door in their face.

Rarity turned to look at the other three. Twilight and Spike looked a bit startled, while Pinkie was still smiling contentedly. "Don't mind Granny Smith. She's a bit forgetful sometimes. To the orchard!"

They made their way into the maze of apple trees around the farm until they heard the sounds of ponies at work. They trotted towards the sound and found three earth ponies: a big red stallion with orange mane and tail and a picture of an apple half on his flank, an orange mare with blonde hair tied in a long ponytail with a cutie mark made up of three red apples, and a young filly, with yellow coat, red locks and a large pink bow in her mane. The filly was holding up a lantern while the mare kicked at the apple trees. Whenever she did, the apples would fall into several large wooden buckets, which the stallion was carting to and from the correct places.

"Applejack!" Rarity called.

The three looked around, and the filly held the lantern higher so they could see their visitors properly.

"Rarity!" the orange mare said in a thick country accent like Granny Smith's once she recognised her in the darkness. "What are _you_ doin' here? I thought you was managin' ya new dress shop in Canterlot?"

"I was," Rarity chuckled, "but, well, it's a bit of a long story. This here is Twilight Sparkle, her assistant Spike the dragon, and Pinkie Pie." She gestured at each of her companions. "Everyone, this is Applejack," – the blonde mare smiled at them – "her brother Big Mac," – the stallion nodded – "and her sister Apple Bloom." The filly beamed and said, "It's nice to meet ya!"

"Pleasure to meet y'all," Applejack echoed.

"Eeyup," said Big Mac.

"What can we do ya for?" Applejack asked.

"Well, Applejack," said Rarity, "it seems Princess Luna has turned into an evil pony called Nightmare Moon, who wants to bring about eternal night."

"We wondered why we haven't seen the sun for days," Applejack said darkly.

"Princess Celestia couldn't use the Elements of Harmony to defeat her." Twilight continued the story. "The Elements have chosen six new ponies that need to wield them, and one of them lives on this apple farm!"

"Say what now?!" Applejack shook her head in confusion.

Rarity continued. "Twilight was shown a picture of Sweet Apple Acres as one of the places to find an Element bearer, and knowing the place myself, I thought _you_ must be the Element of Honesty!"

The orange mare turned pink. "Aw, shucks, ya reckon?"

Rarity nodded.

The filly piped up. "That's so cool! And it makes sense, Applejack! I mean, you are super honest!"

"Eeyup," Big Mac agreed.

Applejack blushed harder.

"Do you mind if we just test it out?" Twilight asked her.

Applejack looked around at all of them staring at her and said finally, "Ah well. I guess it can't hurt to test it, but I don't think—"

But Twilight had already pulled the Element of Honesty out of her saddlebag and floating it towards her. The orange jewel touched the mare, emitted a flash of white light, and formed itself into another golden necklace, the jewel now shaped like an apple just like Applejack's cutie mark.

"Oh, I do love it when they do that," Rarity sighed.

"Well, I'll be!" Applejack exclaimed, looking down at her new accessory. "I guess y'all were right, Rarity. Only…" she glanced behind her at her brother and sister, who were both looking amazed. Applejack sighed and turned back to the others. "I'm sorry, y'all. I'd sure like to come and help y'all with this stoppin' Nightmare Moon business, but this endless night has already put us way behind with the harvest, an' I don't see how we'll get it all done if I leave now."

The other three Elements all looked at each other. "Then we'll help!" Rarity declared.

"Oooh, fun!" Pinkie cried.

"Naw, I couldn't ask ya to do that—"

"Good, because you're not," Rarity said, raising her hoof to cut her off. "Come now, Applejack. With two unicorns and Miss Pie here, the work will go along much quicker."

"Well….." Applejack looked to her siblings.

"Aw, go on, Applejack!" Apple Bloom urged. "We could really use the help!"

"Eeyup," Big Mac nodded.

The mare sighed in resignation. "Alright. Thanks."

"Don't mention it," Rarity smiled.

They quickly split into groups. The three Apple siblings fetched two more lanterns and more buckets. Twilight and Rarity used their magic to pick dozens of apples at a time and carry the buckets to where they needed to go while Spike held a lantern for them to see by. The Apple siblings carried on with their own system, and Pinkie Pie darted around the orchard with her own lantern, carrying apples back to the buckets on her own…somehow. In any case, she got the job done quickly, quicker even than the Apples.

After several hours, the unicorns and Spike were approached by Applejack. "Hey, ya doin' a great job, y'all. Ya mind if we go on with our other chores? They been a bit neglected tryin' to keep up with the harvest."

"Of course, dear," Rarity replied. "You go on. We'll continue here."

"Thanks," Applejack said. "We'll come back an' help ya take the apples ta the cellar once we're done."

The others agreed, and with another thank you, Applejack left again. It was only an hour or so before she reappeared, leading her brother and sister. Big Mac was pulling a cart, and Applejack started loading it with the collected apples. It was soon full, and Applejack heaved another onto her own back to carry, Twilight and Rarity picked up a half dozen each with their magic, Spike tried to pick one up, but had to be helped by Apple Bloom, and Pinkie Pie balanced two on her nose and tail. They all trooped out of the orchard, and made their way to the entrance of the apple cellar, where Granny Smith was waiting for them with a clipboard in her hoof.

As each bucket went past her, she scratched a tally mark on her sheet of parchment. It took another trip to retrieve the rest of the apples, and once they were all stored safely in the cellar, Granny Smith counted up her tallies.

"That's the whole harvest!" she crowed in delight.

"What?!" Applejack cried, coming over to check her numbers.

"Ya think I forgot how to count?! I may be old, but I still know exactly how many buckets o' apples was in that field, an' ya got 'em all!"

"Huh," Applejack said, looking at them over the top of Granny Smith's clipboard. "Seems ya not only helped us get back on track with the harvest, y'all helped us finish it!"

"It was our pleasure, darling," Rarity said.

"I guess I got no excuse now not to come with ya on yerr quest, eh?"

They all shook their heads, smiling.

"Well," grinned Applejack, "no point goin' anywhere just yet. Y'all look plumb tuckered out, an' we should all get some shuteye before headin' off ta— uh, where exactly are we headin'?"

"Well, I'm not quite sure yet," Twilight admitted. "We still need to find two more of the Element bearers, and all I know is that one can be found in a forest, and one in a ruined town square, but I don't know which forest or which town they are! There's so many forests in Equestria, and I don't know of a ruined town where somepony might live."

"Why don't you show them like you showed me Sweet Apple Acres?" Rarity suggested.

Twilight nodded and used her magic to make the last two places appear in a water trough. Everyone frowned over them.

"Hmm, that's not a lot to go on," Applejack muttered, once the images had faded. "I don't recognise the town either, and like ya said, the forest could be any in Equestria."

"Fiddlesticks!" cried Granny Smith suddenly. "It was the Everfree Forest!"

"Are ya sure, Granny?" Apple Bloom asked.

"Sure as shootin'! The Everfree Forest is unmistakable!"

"But Granny," argued Applejack, "who would live in the Everfree Forest? No one dares to go in there!"

"I know those trees, yung'un, and that was the Everfree! I'd bet my good hip on it!"

"It's at least a place to start," Twilight interjected. "And it's not too far away, so we won't go too much out of our way if we're wrong. Applejack, there's not a library in Ponyville, is there?"

"Yeah, the Golden Oak Library, inside tha' big oak tree. Why?"

"I think I should make a quick stop there tomorrow morning, to see if I can find any description of this town we still have to find. If we manage to find the fifth Element in the Everfree Forest, I'd like to know where we'll be heading next."

"Good idea, Twilight!" Rarity said. "In the meantime, though, we should try and get some rest if we want to explore the Everfree Forest tomorrow."

Everyone agreed, and they all went inside, where Granny Smith had prepared a veritable feast for dinner. Twilight, whose last meal had been cold rock soup that morning, was famished, and she had never tasted anything so good as the Apples' cooking.

Then the Apples made up beds for their guests. Spike shared Apple Bloom's room, Rarity shared with Applejack, while Big Mac graciously gave up his own room to Twilight and Pinkie Pie. Twilight was overwhelmed by the kindness of the whole family, and fell asleep thinking that this was the most comfortable home she could imagine.

* * *

 **Granny Smith was another fun character to play with, and I like the role she plays here. Can you guess who's up next? Only two to go!**

 **Hope to see you all next week,**

 **Love OnlyHere4Puckabrina**


	6. Chapter 6: The Element of Kindness

**Hello again everypony! This is the story's longest chapter, and my favourite one.**

 **I own nothing.**

* * *

She did not count, however, on the Apples' early mornings. Though there was no morning for the rooster to herald, the family's habits ensured they got up (what would've been) bright and early, and they had no scruples making sure that their guests got up too.

Twilight staggered out of bed when Applejack flung open the door with a merry, "Good morning, y'all! Breakfast is waitin' downstairs! Granny Smith made flapjacks!"

Pinkie Pie, who Twilight would have sworn had been sound asleep two seconds ago, bounded past her, already brimful of energy, yelling, "Flapjacks! YUM!"

Shaking herself properly awake, Twilight hurried downstairs into the kitchen, where Pinkie seemed to be trying to devour the whole table in order to get the flapjacks into her stomach. Snatching two off a stack, she reminded Applejack that she was going to quickly visit the Golden Oak Library and hurried out.

Since she was out of the house while the others were eating breakfast, she missed seeing the effects of Pinkie on a sugar high, but when she returned she found enough evidence to be assured that it was utterly chaotic, and was grateful for her trip to the library.

When Rarity asked how it went, she shook her head sadly. "The place is amazing! For such a small town, it's amazingly well-stocked – I'll have to come back someday and have a proper look through it – but I couldn't find anything about our mysterious town."

"That's too bad, Twi," Applejack said. "But in the meantime, we've still got another Element ta look for."

"Indeed," Rarity said. "And who knows? Perhaps the next Element bearer might have a clue as to where this town is. I mean, Princess Celestia knew where to find Pinkie, I knew where to find Applejack, and Granny Smith knew which forest to search! It seems Fate or something wants our quest to succeed, so I'm sure we'll find _somepony_ to lead us there!"

Twilight nodded, cheered by this idea, and helped the others gather all their things together for the rest of their journey.

The Apples insisted on their all taking plenty to eat, and finally waved them off with the four Elements all carrying bulging saddlebags.

"You take care now, yung'un," choked Granny Smith, blinking back a tear.

"'Course Granny."

"We'll miss you," cried Apple Bloom, hugging her sister's leg.

"I'll miss you too, Apple Bloom. Don't worry, I'll be fine."

Apple Bloom stepped back and sniffed. "We'll make sure we do all yerr chores while ya gone."

"Eeyup," agreed Big Mac.

Applejack hugged them all and turned to follow the others. They all waved at the Apples as they headed out the gate and towards the Everfree Forest.

* * *

"So exactly why are ponies afraid to go into the Everfree Forest?" Twilight asked Applejack nervously as they approached the trees.

"Well, it's…it's unnatural," Applejack gulped. "All sort of frightful creatures live there, an' I've heard the trees move around o' their own accord!"

"You mean they grow on their own?!" Rarity gasped.

"No, although they do that too. I mean they get up and walk around!"

Rarity fainted.

"How is that possible?!" Twilight exclaimed.

"That's just it! It shouldn't be! But that's not all….. The weather there's real strange. From Sweet Apple Acres, ya can see pink and black clouds over the trees, rainin' cats an' dogs!"

"Well, that's not _so_ unusual, aside from the colour of the clouds," Twilight pointed out.

"No," Applejack said gravely. "I mean _literally_ rainin' cats an' dogs, as in animals fallin' from the sky!"

Rarity, who had just been helped to her hooves by Spike, promptly fainted again.

"Mind you," Applejack added, "haven't seen that for a while."

They had now reached the tree line, and Twilight could definitely feel a slightly sinister vibe coming from the trees. If she hadn't known better, she could have sworn they didn't want any pony coming in. Telling herself it was her imagination, she bravely walked forwards. The others followed, and even Pinkie was quiet as they went further and further into the forest.

The creepiness of walking through the Everfree Forest in the black of night was almost enough to make Twilight believe in ghosts. The companions jumped every time they heard a noise, and there always seemed to be a large group of creatures close by, but always out of sight.

By the time an hour had passed, the whole group felt like they had been walking for days, and their nerves were frayed with the constant state of softly prickling terror.

But they all screamed and jumped about a mile when Pinkie Pie suddenly stopped and yelled, "ENOUGH!"

"Pinkie!" hollered Applejack, once they had all restarted their hearts. "What was tha' for?!"

"I've had enough of this!" Pinkie declared, marching to the front and spinning to face them all. "This forest needs a song to cheer it up!"

"What?!" the other four gaped.

"Luckily, I always have one ready," Pinkie went on, ignoring them. "One, two, three, four! _My name is Pinkie Pie_

 _And I am here to say….."_

The others watched her in bewilderment as she danced around them. "Uh… is she singing to the trees?" Twilight asked no one in particular.

"She is," Rarity replied.

Applejack shot them a glare. "What's wrong with singing to trees?" she huffed.

The others didn't get a chance to answer, as Pinkie Pie swung past them at that moment, grabbed their legs, and pulled them all into her dance.

"' _Cause I love to see you grin, grin, grin…..yes, I do_

 _Bust it out from ear to ear, let it begin_

 _Just give me a joyful grin, grin, grin_

 _And you fill me with good cheer!"_

Soon enough, they were all singing along and laughing with the time they collapsed at the end of the song, they were all grinning.

"Are we ready to keep going, everyone?" Twilight called.

The others all cheered, and they started off again.

They hadn't gone a single step though, before a huge monster leapt out in front of them.

"TIMBERWOLF!" screeched Applejack.

They all screamed and dove away in different directions.

"Pinkie!" Twilight called. "Lead it towards us! Rarity, Applejack, Spike, get ready to hit it with anything you can find!"

They all nodded, and Pinkie jumped in front of the Timberwolf with a giggle. "Hey! Over here!" It lumbered after her as she zoomed around trees, ducking under vines and through bushes. It wasn't nearly as fast as her, but its longer legs made up for it, and it stayed right behind her. Meanwhile, Twilight, Rarity, Spike and Applejack were collecting as many stones as they could and hurling them at the monster. Finally, Spike managed to lob a tiny pebble right down its throat as it and Pinkie rushed towards them.

The timberwolf stopped, choked, and broke into a thousand pieces.

"Whew, that was close," Applejack said, flicking her mane over her shoulder as she wiped the sweat from her eyes.

"Too close," Twilight agreed. "Come on, we need to keep going."

They hadn't gone much further though, when they were stopped in their tracks by a ferocious roar. They all gasped with horror when they saw what was in front of them.

"A manticore!" Twilight yelped.

The manticore roared again and took a swipe at them with one massive paw. They all had to duck for cover and quickly scurried behind a bush.

" _Now_ what do we do?" Rarity asked.

"We give it the what-for!" Applejack declared. She leapt out of cover and rushed the manticore. She flew back into the other three when the manticore backhanded her. "Ugh." She shook her head as she got to her hooves. "We'll all need to go together. It can't get all o' us."

Nervously, the other four gulped and nodded. Together they all ran at their foe, but it turned out the manticore _could_ get all of them. They were knocked back again.

"Ugh, I don't think we're going to get through this with brute force," Twilight moaned. "We need a new plan."

"Wilson, there you are!"

The companions turned at the sound of the soft voice, and saw a yellow pegasus mare that had appeared behind the manticore. She had a long, pink mane that fell gently over one of her large teal eyes, and her tail swept to the ground. Her flank showed three pink butterflies. Twilight couldn't imagine where she came from, or what she was doing in the forest, but those thoughts were swept away by the sight of this gentle mare standing so close to the vicious manticore.

She was about to cry out a warning when the mare walked right up to the manticore and nuzzled its paw. Amazingly, it purred. The strange mare smiled at him, then caught sight of Twilight and her friends. "Oh Wilson, what are you doing? You can't go around attacking ponies! That's wrong!"

The manticore whined and showed her its paw. A large thorn was stuck in it.

"How did you…?" the mare wondered, before leaning over and pulling it out. The manticore roared with pain, but then gave her a mighty lick that left her long mane standing in the air.

"You're welcome," the pegasus giggled, before turning stern again. "But you should still know better than to take out your anger on innocent ponies! Do I need to give you a time out?"

The manticore shrank under her glare, which had suddenly become almost hypnotic and shook his huge mane.

"Good. Now off you go."

The beast ran off, and the pegasus approached them. "I'm sorry. Wilson usually wouldn't hurt a fly, but he gets a little cranky when he gets himself hurt."

The others only stared at her in wonder.

"As a matter of fact, it's strange that he got a thorn in his paw," the pegasus went on, looking up at the sky in thought. "Zecora gave me a charm so he wouldn't…." Suddenly her eyes narrowed. She turned and called up towards the treetops, "Discord!"

Nothing happened. Twilight and the others glanced up to where she was yelling at and then back at her expectantly.

"Discord, I know you're here somewhere. Get out here this minute, mister!"

With a pop, a creature even more terrifying than the manticore materialised behind Fluttershy. It had a thick, furry serpentine body with the scaly tail of a snake, a dragon leg, one hoof, eagle claw, lion paw, the head of a pony and twisted horn of a goat and deer antler. It had a small white beard, bushy white eyebrows, one protruding fang and frightening yellow eyes with red pupils. "Oh, you're no fun, Fluttershy," it hissed, displaying its forked tongue.

Rarity shrieked and fainted again. Twilight, Spike, Pinkie and Applejack all cried out and shrank away from the monster. The pegasus – Fluttershy – did not appear the least bit alarmed however. She swung around to face him angrily.

"How could you go and put a thorn in poor Wilson's paw?"

"I was going to take it out!" protested the creature, which must have been Discord.

"That's no excuse! You hurt Wilson, and scared these poor ponies half to death!"

"I was only trying to scare them enough so they would leave the forest, it's not _my_ fault they were dumb enough to stay."

"Hey!" Pinkie said indignantly.

"That's not the point!" Fluttershy raged. "You can't go hurting other animals just to try to get ponies to leave. It's not polite!"

Discord crossed his eagle claw and lion paw and stuck his tongue out.

"You're sleeping outside tonight, mister!"

"What?!" Discord yelped.

"You heard me! For now, you can help me welcome these ponies into the cottage."

Discord glared at her, but she remained firm, and he finally scowled and looked away. With that, Fluttershy finally turned her attention back to the others, who had watched the argument like a tennis match.

"This way, everyone," Fluttershy said, her tone once again soft and friendly. They all started after her, back the way she had come from, with Discord following grumpily behind. Twilight and her friends kept glancing back at him with questioning glances, but didn't dare to ask any questions yet, and Discord ignored their looks.

"So you were the one scaring us the whole time?"

Well, everyone except Pinkie didn't dare ask questions.

Discord looked at her and nodded. "I don't like ponies coming into the forest. _Usually_ , I do a good job of keeping them out." His eyes flicked towards Fluttershy as he spoke.

"Aren't you a draconequus?" Twilight ventured.

He grinned at her. "I am. Allow me to introduce myself properly. Discord, Lord of Chaos!"

"Discord?! But didn't Princess Celestia and Princess Luna turn you to stone?"

"They tried," Discord sneered. "But I escaped. Mind you, I knew I couldn't take over Equestria again now that they had their hooves on the Elements of Harmony, so I came to the Everfree Forest, which ponies already avoided, and created a land of wonderful chaos for myself to make sure it stayed that way! The princesses didn't seem to mind; at least they never tried to find me, so I've been living here ever since."

"Well, that'd explain the forest's reputation," Applejack said, just as the group reached a small clearing.

Twilight was just wondering why they had stopped when Fluttershy said, "Um, Discord, would you mind putting the cottage on the ground?"

The unicorns, earth ponies and Spike all looked up to see a small cottage, with a roof that looked covered in moss, hanging high above them, rotating slowly in mid-air.

Discord scowled and snapped his fingers. Next second, they were facing a perfectly normal, quaint little cottage.

"Thank you," Fluttershy said with a smile, and led them all inside. Twilight couldn't help but notice that Discord looked slightly mollified.

The inside was comfortable, and filled with miniature shelters for birds and mice and other small critters, all nailed down, probably to stop them sliding around while the cottage floated in the air. A white rabbit bounded forwards when the pegasus entered and leapt onto her back, looked curiously at the visitors and positively scowled at Discord. Discord scowled right back.

Fluttershy, ignoring this, asked Discord to make up something for their guests and introduced them both properly. Then she scolded Discord for making the teapot shoot scalding hot tea at them, apologised, and asked their names. After they had told her who they were, and she had finished fawning over Spike (which took a while), Twilight said, "We're looking for…"

"…the other Element bearers," Discord cut in. He hadn't done anything since the teapot other than look mad as Fluttershy talked to them.

"How did you know that?" Twilight gasped.

He scoffed. "I'm the _Lord of Chaos_. Don't you think I would have a connection to the _Elements of Harmony_? I can sense them, and their true bearers. Five of which happen to be gathered in this room, and frankly making me a little nauseous."

Twilight glanced around at the four other ponies and realised what he was saying. "Fluttershy is an Element bearer?!"

"I am?!" Fluttershy gasped, both of them staring at the draconequus.

"Of course," he said casually. "Of kindness, if I'm not mistaken. Which I'm not."

There was a long pause as the rest of the room digested this information.

The silence was broken by Applejack. "Well, tha' was easier than I expected."

* * *

 **Hahaha! Yes, I am a shameless Fluttercord shipper! However, Discord does play a key role. I needed Fluttershy living somewhere other than Ponyville, otherwise that's too easy. Not sure where else she might have been except Cloudsdale, where she didn't really enjoy living. It also would have been hard for the others to get to. Having the Lord of Chaos as a protector I think would take away much of Fluttershy's fear of living in the Everfree. Also, did anyone else feel that the Everfree didn't _really_ deserve its terrifying reputation? Having Discord as the one keeping ponies out would make it much scarier, as it's supposed to be.**

 **That's all for this week, now they've just got to track down Rainbow Dash! Anyone figured out where she is yet?**

 **Love OnlyHere4Puckabrina**


	7. Chapter 7: The Element of Loyalty

**Hi everypony! Thanks for continuing reading, my fantastic followers! I hope you're all eager for the seventh chapter and final element!**

 **I don't own anything, just as usual.**

* * *

It only took a minute for Twilight to confirm Discord's statement. When the pink jewel had transformed itself into a butterfly necklace and Fluttershy's panic attack had subsided (who knew the mare who had calmed a raging manticore without so much as a shudder and tamed the Lord of Chaos could be such a scaredy-pony?), Twilight turned her attention to her next problem: finding the last Element bearer.

"Why should _I_ know where they are?" Discord huffed when Twilight asked him.

"Didn't you just say you have a connection with the Elements and the bearers?!"

"With the _Elements_ , yes. But I can only tell the true bearer when they're in close proximity to their Element. When the Element feels it, I can feel it."

"Well now what do we do?" Applejack asked the room in general.

"You don't have anything to go on?" Fluttershy said.

"Just this picture, but no one knows where it might be," Twilight replied, projecting the last image onto Fluttershy's mirror.

Everyone examined the ruined town again.

"Well I know where _that_ is!" Discord laughed.

"You do?!" everyone cried.

"I'm the Lord of Chaos, and I'm immortal; I've been around, ponies, even after my banishment."

"Can you transport us there?" Fluttershy asked him.

"What, now I'm your chauffeur?!"

"Discord! This is important!"

"I know if I send you there you'll get to have all the fun while I'm stuck at home. I suppose you'll want a nice dinner by the time you get back?" He suddenly popped himself into a retro-style apron, complete with feather duster and blonde beehive hairdo.

"Of course not," Fluttershy replied. "We'll need you to go to Princess Celestia and help her fend off Nightmare Moon."

"Oh, so I get to be an errand boy?!" The apron, duster and hairdo disappeared and he crossed his mismatched arms with a scowl. Twilight was reminded of a sulky teenager.

Fluttershy gently took his lion paw and stroked it, causing Discord's frown to vanish, replaced with a look of hesitation. "Please, Discord?"

The others held their breath as they waited to see if Fluttershy's charm would work on him.

Finally, Discord gave a great sigh and said in a tone of great suffering, "Well…..because you said please."

The others all grinned and cheered. Fluttershy hugged Discord, whispered something that made him grin and joined the others as they prepared to be transported.

"Good luck," he laughed evilly, and snapped his fingers. They vanished.

* * *

When her eyes blinked open, the scene had changed. The group was no longer standing in Fluttershy's cottage, but a dusty square surrounded by buildings that were falling apart. It matched the final image exactly.

"We're here!" Twilight yelled jubilantly.

"Wherever 'here' is," Applejack added, slightly ominously.

The five mares and Spike all looked around, waiting for something to happen. Rarity was the first to break the silence. "What did Discord mean when he said 'good luck', do you think?"

Twilight heard the edge of panic in her voice and had to admit the scene was creeping her out a bit, too. Before she could offer up any reassurance, however, there was an ear-splitting screech that seemed to come from all sides, and all six of them suddenly found themselves surrounded, sharp spears pointed at their noses.

Applejack gasped, Rarity fainted, Twilight and Spike yelled and Fluttershy burst into tears before they could focus on their attackers.

"Hey, griffins!" Pinkie exclaimed in delight, ignoring the deadly blade inches away from her.

Twilight finally managed to gather herself together enough to realise Pinkie was right. They were encircled by a ring of menacing-looking griffins. She suddenly realised where they must be.

"What happened here?"

"Silence!" commanded the griffin directly in front of her, jabbing Twilight with the tip of her spear.

Twilight winced and fell silent.

"Dash, come look at this!" called another griffin to someone out of their view.

"What's up, Gilda?" answered a raspy girl's voice.

The griffins shifted aside to make way for a cyan-coloured pegasus with magenta eyes and a choppy rainbow-streaked mane and tail. Her flank was adorned with a lightning cloud, the bolt matching her unusual hair colour. She walked to the front of the group and suddenly stopped, her eyes widening. Fixating on one of them in particular, she exclaimed, "FLUTTERSHY?!"

The whimpering pony raised her head and gaped when she caught sight of the other pegasus. "Rainbow Dash?"

The blue mare quickly turned to the griffins. "It's alright, guys. They're cool."

To Twilight's immense relief, the weapons were lowered.

The pegasus refocussed on Fluttershy. "What the hay are you doing here?"

Fluttershy offered her a weak grin. "It's kind of a long story."

* * *

The pegasus was called Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy explained how they had met back in Summer Flight Camp. Rainbow Dash quickly took over the story, recounting how she had stood up for Fluttershy when she was being picked on by bullies.

"After you _dropped out_ of Flight Camp," Rainbow snickered, "I went on to Junior Speedster Flight Camp, which is where I met Gilda." She indicated the griffin lounging beside her. "We kept in touch, and she eventually told me how Griffonstone had gone to pieces after the idol of Boreas went missing. Since then, we've been trying to get this place on its feet. But without the idol of Boreas…" She trailed off with a sigh. Then she brightened again. "Still, we've managed to get them talking to each other at least."

 _She's the Element of Loyalty for sure_ , Twilight thought.

"Why can't you get the idol of Boreas back?" Pinkie questioned.

"it fell into the Abysmal Abyss," Gilda snapped. "You can't fly down there, and the only griffin who knows anything about abseiling walked off and left Dash stuck down there when she tried."

"I was totally fine," Rainbow said boldly.

"You were almost in hysterics when I finally found you!" Gilda laughed. "And when I managed to get you back to the top, you fainted!"

"Did not!" Rainbow said defensively. "I was, uh, catching my breath!"

The others chuckled.

"So anyway," Rainbow declared, pointedly ignoring Gilda's continuing hoots of laughter, "I'd love to help you out with fighting the wacky princess and all, but I promised I would stay here and help the griffins."

"But Rainbow Dash, we need you!" Rarity cried.

"PLEEEEEEEAAAAAAASSE?" begged Pinkie.

"Please, Rainbow?" Fluttershy whispered.

Rainbow looked at Fluttershy with a pained expression. "You know I'd do anything for you, Flutters, but a promise is a promise."

Fluttershy nodded sadly, realising there was nothing she could say to convince the Element of Loyalty to go back on her word. Applejack and Twilight realised this too, but the other two continued trying to persuade her.

"What if we could help you get the idol of Boreas back?" Twilight asked, cutting across Rarity and Pinkie's pleas.

Rainbow and Gilda glanced at each other. Rainbow answered, "That would mean the griffins could finally put their town back together, and I could help you. But how exactly do you plan to do that?"

Twilight reached up and tapped her horn. "With this."

* * *

Rainbow Dash and Gilda led them to the edge of the Abysmal Abyss. Twilight already had her summoning spell prepared in her mind, so she was ready by the time they reached it. Her horn glowed with pink magic, and then they waited. After a minute of intense concentration, a golden statue rose into view, battling against the vicious wind screaming through the Abyss.

A change came over Gilda when she saw it. Her eyes grew wide with adoration, and her permanently snarky expression melted away. Twilight imagined she was fighting the urge to drop to her knees in worship. "The idol of Boreas…" she murmured.

Twilight gently guided the statue into Gilda's outstretched claw.

Just like that, the griffon went from deifying slave to the attitude of a flag carrier at the Equestria Games. Her chest puffed out, and she grinned at her prize with disbelief and wonder, but most of all, pride. The most famous, most valuable object in her culture's entire history had just been entrusted to her.

Finally she blinked and looked up at them. "Thank you," she choked.

Twilight nodded and smiled.

Gilda turned to Rainbow and gave her a hug. "Go with them, Dash. Go kick this monster's butt, then you can come back here and tell me all about it, huh?"

Rainbow Dash grinned. "'Course. I still have to help you get your subjects in order. I think it's going to take a bit more than a statue for them to get along."

Gilda gaped at her. "Huh?"

"When Grover first created the idol, the griffins made him king," Twilight explained. "Since you're the one who's bringing the idol back, I'd say you will be queen."

"Queen…?" muttered Gilda, staring bemusedly at the idol of Boreas. She absently wished them a goodbye, turned and headed back to Griffonstone.

Rainbow Dash turned to the others. "Well let's go and find Nightmare Moon!"

"One more thing," Twilight said, pulling the last jewel – the red one – out of her saddlebag. Within seconds, the gem had transformed into a necklace, shaped like a bolt of lightning. "Now we're ready. Let's go, ladies!"

* * *

 **It was Griffonstone! Like I said, Cloudsdale might have been a bit hard for the others, and I also felt Rainbow Dash would have eventually left. Gilda was her other childhood friend I thought she might have followed, like she followed Fluttershy to Ponyville.**

 **On the Idol of Boreas, I always thought it a little sad the griffons never got it back. I know they had to learn a lesson, but still. I figured it would be easy with unicorn magic, which they didn't originally have.**

 **Until next time bronies and pegasisters!**

 **Love OnlyHere4Puckabrina**


	8. Chapter 8: Flight to Canterlot

**Hello everypony! Back with another chapter. This is just a bit of a filler, where the girls and Spike are headed back to Canterlot and find out a bit about what's been going on. Thanks to all who read and review, favourite or follow. I love you all!**

 **I don't own a thing.**

* * *

It was a long journey back to Canterlot from Griffonstone. Twilight was growing anxious about Princess Celestia and what might be happening to her, so she knew time was of the essence. The others seemed to sense her mood and they travelled as quickly as possible, but unfortunately, Griffonstone had been in one of the most far-flung corners of Equestria and it took them several days to even reach a pony settlement again. It would have been easy to wander off in the complete wrong direction, but thankfully Rainbow had remembered which way to go to get back towards Canterlot.

It took them three days before they reached a proper town. They were all exhausted and ready to collapse into the nearest bed, but Twilight insisted on finding out what was going on with the princesses if possible. Pinkie Pie proved useful in this department, and quickly flushed out the town's biggest gossip, a sweet middle-aged mare by the name of Gabby Cathy.

"It's a sad situation," Gabby told them, shaking her head. "What happened see, the Princess Luna got angry at her sister – no one's quite sure why – but anyway, something just came over her. Before Celestia knew it, some demon took hold of her sister's body! Awful! Can you imagine! Princess Celestia, of course, tried to fight it off and bring poor Luna back, but I dunno, the demon must've been too strong or something, because the next thing anyone knows, she's hightailed it to her school in Canterlot! The demon princess then casts some terrible spell to make it night-time forever. Word is Princess Celestia went to her school to brainstorm with those smart cookies there for some solution. But Nightmare Moon – that's the demon princess, see – she figures out where Celestia's gone and attacks the school! It was awful, I tell you! But luckily Princess Celestia had warned the school this might happen and they were all ready to fight Nightmare Moon off. But this demon was so strong, no one was able to defeat it! And all the unicorns who tried to fight her went mad! It was terrible! Even so, all of Princess Celestia's royal guard were prepared to defend her to the death, and I'm sure many of them did. The citizens of Canterlot too! The demon fought the whole of Canterlot for days, but it seems like the demon is unbeatable! No one's managed to land a hit on her after a whole week of this, not even Princess Celestia! I only wonder if she'll manage to do away with our princess and all the rest of us before some angel or something shows up to defeat _her_." Gabby sighed. "No doubt Princess Luna is already lost, poor thing. Then we'll just have that other princess left, what's-her-name, unless the demon gets to her as well!"

She finally seemed to notice the six ponies and Spike staring at her with shocked and disappointed expressions. Seeing them look so gloomy, their story teller bit her lip. "Gee, I'm sorry to make you all so downhearted. After all, we shouldn't give up hope. Princess Celestia is managing to hold on, after all. Perhaps it may all turn out for the best." Her audience did not look particularly cheered, so she added in a forced-cheerful tone, "I've noticed it _has_ seemed to have brightened up a bit in the past couple of days. More like a dark evening than middle-of-the-night darkness."

"Really?" Pinkie asked hopefully. The pink pony was looking for any hope in Gabby's dismal tale to cling to.

Gabby nodded, and then suddenly blurted out, "Oh! Yes! How could I have forgotten?! The last news from the train was that two or three days ago – I'm not really sure which – someone else turned up in Canterlot, and they've joined the fight against Nightmare Moon too! Of course, no one really knows who they are or why they've decided to join the princess. They might just want Equestria all to themselves and are getting rid of the competition." The mare shrugged and on that questionably optimistic note, left them to themselves.

The mares and Spike looked at each other.

Twilight wondered the mysterious ally it might be, until she glanced at Fluttershy and saw the tiny, relieved smile and realised it must be Discord. He had gone to help Celestia as she had asked. The unicorn marvelled at the influence the shy little pegasus seemed to have over the draconequus.

"Even with all this help, though," Spike said after the other pony had left them, "why can't Princess Celestia beat Nightmare Moon?"

"I think," Rarity declared, "that Princess Celestia is trying to make sure none of the ponies in Canterlot get hurt, _including_ Nightmare Moon. She is still her sister, after all. So between keeping everyone safe and fending Nightmare Moon off, she probably just hasn't had time to raise the sun."

"Only the Elements of Harmony would be really effective for both those things," Applejack agreed. "She's probably just holdin' out until we get back, then she can raise the sun to let everyone know all's well."

The other four ponies and Spike nodded their heads in agreement. Twilight was glad they all took this view. Their confidence helped her believe that her beloved mentor was indeed alright, and just too busy trying to keep her sister from getting too out of hand to raise the sun. Still, the constant night had been slowly making her more and more paranoid, and all she wanted was to be back in Canterlot and see with her own two eyes that Celestia was okay.

She remembered Gabby had said something about a train, and asked Pinkie to go ask how far away it was. Pinkie returned with the news that the closest train station was in the next town over, which was another day of travel.

After some quick calculations, Twilight estimated that they could be reach Canterlot in the next thirty-six hours or so. Everyone smiled at this news, and went gratefully to their hotel rooms when Twilight suggested they all get some rest before they had to set out tomorrow.

* * *

The streets of Twilight's home town where in a state of organised chaos. Many ponies seemed to be out on the street, watching with panicked expressions a series of flashing lights above the castle that seemed to indicate some sort of battle. However, the crowds were being kept fairly calm by the soldiers everywhere.

Twilight ran up to the first soldier she saw, an orange pegasus with a blue mane. "Excuse me, where is Sir Shining Armour?"

The pegasus turned to her and glanced over her and her companions. He answered at once though. "He is up at the palace coordinating the unicorn guards and magic students in the attack."

Twilight ducked her head in thanks and shouted, "Come on!" to the group behind her. They ran after her as she hurtled up the hill towards the palace.

They passed many more crowds of ponies similarly watched over by soldiers, and there only seemed to be a few streets with any signs of destruction. These were also being quickly patched up, with the only signs of panic the hurried movements and tight expressions of the workers.

The palace doors were, for the first time in Twilight's memory, unguarded, and the six ponies – with Spike riding on Twilight's back – raced through halls and up a flight of stairs. Here they came upon another crowd of ponies, a mixture of guards and regular ponies, but all of them unicorns and all of whom looked exhausted. Most watched them fly past without comment, and one raised her hoof to point them up another flight of stairs.

They went up these stairs and came to a floor where even more unicorns and a couple earth and pegasi ponies were running around nursing some injured.

Here they paused, wondering where to go and using the time to catch their breath.

"Twilight!"

They all turned and Twilight gasped with relief to see Princess Celestia walking towards them, looking extremely tired, but otherwise unharmed. The nurse ponies parted to let her through, but went on with their work.

Celestia reached the small group and dropped her head onto Twilight's shoulder and hugged her. Twilight was stunned, but hugged her back.

The princess then pulled away and looked them over. "You did it, Twilight. You found the Element bearers."

"Yes. Princess Celestia, where is my brother?" After being assured that Celestia was alright, Twilight needed to know Shining Armour was too.

"He is upstairs, commanding the unicorns who are fighting at the moment. I am glad you are here, Twilight. He has refused to rest for two days. We need to end this fight."

"Um…excuse me…your highness…w-w-what about Discord?" asked Fluttershy, skulking behind Applejack.

Celestia looked at the timid little pony with an air of slight confusion. "He is also fine. He showed up a couple of days ago and has been Nightmare Moon's biggest distraction since. I cannot imagine why he's suddenly shown up though…"

"Fluttershy sent him," Twilight explained.

Celestia cast another quizzical glance at the shy pegasus, but knew it was not the time to go into the hows and whys of that statement. "Quickly, Twilight. Up that way. It will take you to a balcony which will be the closest the six of you can safely get to Nightmare Moon. Then you must unite your elements and use them to defeat her."

Twilight nodded and turned to Spike, who still sat astride her. "You stay here, Spike. Try and help the ponies with injuries."

The dragon nodded and slid down, then dashed into the crowd of nurses running to and fro. The six mares then set off towards the staircase Celestia had indicated.

"So, how exactly do we use these doohickeys when we get up there?" Applejack panted as they raced up the stairs.

Twilight had no idea at all, she could only trust that like the Elements sensing their bearers, they would know when the time was right. She was about to call back something to that effect when they emerged onto the balcony.

Nightmare Moon was floating in a sphere of rippling darkness above them. A screaming wind tore like a tornado around her, making the six of them instinctively huddle together to avoid getting blown over the edge. However, it did not seem to affect a thin brown figure floating around her, laughing and hurling insults, conjuring up ridiculous things to attack her like giant marshmallows that formed themselves into boxing gloves to whack her. Nightmare Moon was screaming with rage as she tried to fight off Discord's unpredictable projectiles, but she couldn't seem to land a hit on the Lord of Chaos, who ducked and weaved and even separated himself into pieces to avoid her retaliations. Distracted by him, she had no way of blocking the magical blasts that occasionally managed to get through her protective sphere.

Twilight looked to where these attacks were coming from, and spotted a group of about a dozen unicorns crouching out of reach of the terrible weather in the windows several floors below them, taking careful aim at the dark alicorn. She felt a lurch of relief as she spotted a tall white unicorn in a guard captain's uniform among them, barking orders.

"Alright, girls," she said to her friends. "It's time to end this battle."

* * *

 **Yes, I took the opportunity to throw Flash in there. Please review!**

 **Love OnlyHere4Puckabrina**


	9. Chapter 9: The Battle

**Hey everypony! Time for the showdown!**

 **I own nothing.**

* * *

"Discord!" Fluttershy called.

How he heard her over the storm, no one knew, but he turned and shouted "Fluttershy!"

"We'll take it from here!"

Discord vanished from the sky, and Nightmare Moon turned towards her new opponents. She cackled when she spotted the six ponies below her. "You would've had better luck with the Lord of Chaos!" she taunted. "How do you weak little mares expect to defeat me?"

"Because we have the most powerful magic of all on our side!" Twilight called defiantly. "The Elements of Harmony!"

She expected Nightmare Moon to reel back in shock, look scared or even hesitate slightly. But to her astonishment, the dark alicorn only laughed again.

"Fools! You have no idea how to use them! They are worse than useless in your hooves!"

Twilight glanced at her companions, worried. Nightmare Moon was right. They had no idea what to do with the Elements now that they had them. Above them, the mad cackle told them Nightmare Moon knew it too.

Rainbow Dash saw Twilight's hesitation. She flew up to Nightmare Moon's level, drawing the villain's attention onto her alone. "Of course we know how to use them!" she taunted. "We are the Element bearers after all. That means we represent everything good! And you should know, Nightmare _Yawn_ , the good guys always win!"

The dark alicorn shot a magical blast at Rainbow, but the pegasus was an expert flyer and avoided it easily even in the howling wind.

"You're a spiteful, bitter old liar!" the rainbow mare continued. "Even your magic, you call that an attack? And the way you betrayed your sister so you could rule Equestria? I mean, how selfish are you? No wonder you lost _your_ connection to the Elements!"

Rainbow Dash probably didn't realise it, but her words sparked an idea in Twilight, and as she continued hurling her abuse at Nightmare Moon, the unicorn suddenly felt the wave of realisation wash over her.

"That's right!" she yelled. Nightmare Moon, Rainbow Dash and the other four mares around her all looked at her. But now she knew what to do, and she glared the floating pony above her in the eye.

"Even when you cast the whole of Equestria into darkness, Pinkie Pie here was a ray of light for us all!"

"Awww," Pinkie sobbed.

"With her laughter, she helped us stay positive on our quest, and even dispelled the terrors in the Everfree Forest with the power of a smile!"

"And Applejack is the picture of honesty!" Rarity cried, cottoning on to Twilight's plan. "She always acts true to what she believes, no matter what it may cost her. When she gave her word to help with our quest, she knew the dangers she may face, but she has upheld her promise at every turn!"

The blushing orange mare grinned at Rarity, looking extremely embarrassed, but spoke in a ringing voice as she extolled on her old friend's virtues in return. "An' I've never met a more generous pony than Rarity! She is ready to offer any help, and she goes above and beyond to make sure her friends and her lil' sister are happy, even when it puts her out of comfort zone!"

Twilight beamed at the unicorn and earth mare as they embraced each other, seemingly overcome by the other's words. Luckily, Rainbow Dash went on for them.

"Fluttershy is the sweetest and kindest pony in Equestria!" The yellow pegasus squeaked in embarrassment. "I have never heard a bad word about anypony from her, and just by offering a little kindness, was able to tame the Lord of Chaos, which you could see as he was kicking your butt!"

Twilight, Applejack and Rarity all snorted at that, Pinkie shrieked with laughter and Fluttershy smiled as she took her own turn. For once, the shy pegasus' voice sang out loud and crystal clear.

"Even when she was a filly, Rainbow Dash was the most loyal of friends. She stood by me against everything, and later was determined to help her friend Gilda in a quest that seemed hopeless. When she joined our quest, I knew she would always stand by our side, because loyalty's who she is!"

Nightmare Moon had been growing more and more agitated with every speech. She was grinding her teeth together, looking furious, but something seemed to be holding her back from attacking them. Then her, and everyone else's, eyes turned to Pinkie automatically, the only pony yet to speak, waiting for her to give her argument on why Twilight deserved the Element of Magic.

Pinkie Pie also felt it was her turn and shouted, "Twilight is…uh…..super magical!"

Six pairs of eyes blinked at her.

"Um…..she…she got the idol of Boreas back…with a spell…" the pink pony stammered. Then she looked to the others helplessly. They all stared at each other wildly. None of them had known Twilight before this had all started, and she hadn't had any cause to showcase any extraordinary magical talent on their journey, so they were all at a loss as to what they could add.

But then another voice cut in. "As a filly, Twilight was able to produce enough magic to not only hatch a baby dragon, but cause it to grow to full size!" Twilight, and everyone else, looked down to where the voice had come from. Shining Armour was standing in the window, and even though he was far below the ones he was addressing, his strong voice, used to giving orders, carried loud and clear to them through the storm.

"She was chosen by Princess Celestia to join her magic school, and even to be her very own pupil. She studies harder than anyone to master all sorts of magic, and she has proven herself a true leader by bringing together all the other Elements of Harmony!"

It seemed to be the last piece. Suddenly each of the Elements sent out glowing rainbow ribbons – much to the amazement of their wearers, who let out yells of shock – that fused together and lifted the six of them up level with Nightmare Moon, who looked amazed.

"Joined together through friendship, these Elements have the power to defeat anything," Twilight stated confidently. She was hovering in the centre of the group and gazed at each of her new friends tenderly. "Even you."

"NOOOO!" Nightmare Moon screeched, letting off a final white-hot beam of magic at the group. But the missile was blasted away by a sudden dazzling globe of light as Twilight's eyes shone white with power. Like a nuclear explosion, the circle swelled and expanded to encompass the entire palace, then the whole of Canterlot and kept going, returning all of Equestria to its rightful state. A particularly powerful beam of rainbow-coloured light shot straight at Nightmare Moon, and she howled as it hit her.

Twilight couldn't see a thing through the brilliant light that seemed to be coming from her own eyes, but as she turned her head, she saw the ghostly figure of Pinkie Pie floating next to her. Except it was not _exactly_ Pinkie Pie. The pink pony's cotton candy hair had grown even bigger, and it was now shot through with blue, orange and yellow, decorated with stars and a blue bow. Her legs had suddenly become decorated with balloons just like her cutie mark.

Twilight gaped and looked to her other side, where she could just make out Applejack. The other earth mare's mane and tail were longer and had streaks of red and pale pink. Her cowgirl hat had a large shiny red apple sitting atop it, with smaller ones adorning her legs and long green ribbons in her hair.

The others had gone through similar transformations. Rainbow's choppy mane-cut had grown into a spiky mohawk with a jagged, lightning-shaped tail to match. Her legs were emblazoned with lightning bolts which also framed her eyes, and her wings had become huge and rainbow-coloured like her hair. There also seemed to be a crackling energy around her. Fluttershy's hair had become even longer and silkier, shining with teal, darker pink and soft purple. Her bigger wings were decorated with these same colours, and a swarm of butterflies appeared on her legs. Rarity's legs glittered with diamonds, as did her hair, which was also striped with blue, yellow and pink.

But it was Twilight's own transformation that gave her the biggest shock. Sparkling stars winked up at her from her legs, and her usually straight, functional mane and tail had lengthened, the deep blue turning to yellow. And as she twisted around she could see the shadowy forms of two enormous pink-and-purple wings sprouting from her own back.

Within a few minutes, the Elements had finished their job. The six mares felt themselves floating gently back down to the balcony, and as their hooves touched the ground they stood in a circle around a small, huddled blue figure, who was sobbing.

No one knew what to say, until Twilight stepped forward and said softly, "Princess Luna?"

The alicorn looked up, tears still streaming from her deep blue eyes. "I-I-I'm s-s-s- _so_ sorry!" she wailed.

"It's okay," Twilight soothed. "Let's get you to your sister."

As Applejack and Rainbow Dash helped the alicorn to her hooves, Twilight gazed at her friends curiously. They were all back to normal, and no one seemed to have noticed any strange changes. Twilight checked behind her to make absolutely sure she had no wings, then shook her head slightly, wondering what the strange vision had meant.

They started heading back towards the stairs, when a blur of motion suddenly raced up it squealing, " _Fluttershy_!"

Fluttershy squealed as the draconequus scooped her up and spun her around, before tucking her firmly against his chest under his chin like a teddy bear. She giggled and looked up at the draconequus with a grin. "I'm fine, Discord."

"Well, I'll be the judge of that as soon as we get home and I can check properly," he scowled. "Let's go."

"We can't leave yet, Discord, we have to go see Princess Celestia."

Discord squeezed Fluttershy a little tighter. "Why?"

"Because she'll want to make sure we're all okay and see her sister."

Discord scowled.

"And I'm sure she'll want to thank you for helping out too, Discord. You really were amazing," Fluttershy added sweetly.

"Humph. Well…..alright then. I suppose we better go see her," he finally conceded.

"Yes, let's go," Twilight agreed.

* * *

 **Little bit inspired by the Magnus Chase showdown. There's still two chapters to go, so please review, favourite and follow!**

 **Love OnlyHere4Puckabrina**


	10. Chapter 10: Reconciliation

**I don't own a thing.**

* * *

The makeshift hospital ward was buzzing with even more ponies when Twilight, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Princess Luna and Discord emerged from the staircase. Twilight spotted Shining Armour leading his troupe of unicorns towards one of the harried-looking nurses. Guards who had come up to the palace to help were intercepting him to ask for orders, which they would then relay to anyone else who had come along. In fact, most of Canterlot seemed to be gathered into this hallway, so none of the heroes could see a sign of Princess Celestia. Twilight headed towards her brother instead.

"Hey BBBFF," she said.

Shining Armour turned and beamed at the sight of his little sister. "Twilie!" He enveloped her in a hug. "That was incredible, sis."

"Couldn't have done it without you. Thanks," Twilight replied with a blush.

Shining Armour looked over her group with curiousity, and Twilight introduced each of them. It was a touch awkward when she reached the recently-transformed Luna and Discord, a former well-known villain, but he nodded to both of them respectfully.

"I appreciate the help you gave us there," he said gravely to Discord, "and I'm very happy to see you back to normal, Princess Luna."

Discord shrugged and Luna bowed her head in shame.

"I expect you're looking for Princess Celestia now," Shining Armour smiled at Twilight. He turned to an approaching soldier. "Flash Sentry!"

An orange pegasus approached, and Twilight realised it was the same guard who had told her where Shining Armour was. She grinned at him, and he smiled back. This made Twilight feel ridiculously pleased and she blushed. Flash Sentry pretended not to notice as he saluted his captain. "Yes sir?"

"Please escort my sister and her friends to Princess Celestia."

"Of course. Right this way, ponies. And…er…..draconequus."

They followed Flash Sentry through the thronging crowd until they reached the end of the hall where they finally saw Princess Celestia overseeing a group of ponies carrying the injured ponies downstairs. Spike stood beside her, and he dropped his clipboard when he saw Twilight approaching.

"Twilight!" he shouted, running over to her. The little dragon had been kept busy helping Celestia with the injured and exhausted citizens of Canterlot, but he had been worried for Twilight the entire time and was overjoyed to see her unhurt. Twilight hugged her little dragon friend as he collided with her.

Celestia had looked up at Spike's yell and walked over, looking both relieved and anxious. "Twilight, thank goodness."

But she had no more words for her pupil as her gaze went to Luna. The sisters stared at each other, unsure of how to proceed. Pinkie Pie decided to break the tension.

"Hey Celestia. Luna here is super duper sorry about going crazy jealous and turning into Nightmare Moon!"

Luna cringed and seemed to shrink under all the watching ponies' gaze.

Celestia walked slowly up to her sister and bent so she could look directly into Luna's eyes. "All is forgiven," she said softly.

At that, Luna burst into tears, and Celestia wrapped her in a hug. Luna clung to her sister, sobbing uncontrollably, and everyone politely looked away as they saw a few tears slip down Celestia's cheeks as well.

"Well this is frightfully dull," Discord groaned.

Everyone swivelled their heads to look at him, most of the ponies scowling at his rude interruption to the touching moment. Celestia straightened and fixed him with a stare, then she and Luna walked up to him side by side. Fluttershy – whom he had finally put down as the two princesses hugged – squeezed his paw nervously.

"Discord," Celestia said imperiously. "I seem to remember my sister and I banished you years ago."

"Actually, if you recall, you tried to turn me to stone, and I escaped."

"And when we realised our mistake, we made it expressly clear that you were not welcome within Equestria again."

Fluttershy gasped softly and clung tighter to Discord.

Twilight stepped forward nervously. She wasn't sure how much she liked the draconequus, but judging from the number of exhausted ponies around her and what she had seen of his fight with Nightmare Moon, he had played a vital role at holding the dark alicorn off. Plus, he was Fluttershy's friend.

"Princess Celestia, Discord helped us a lot in the past few days. Surely you can take this into account?"

Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity and Pinkie Pie obviously felt the same way as Twilight, because they crowded defensively in front of Discord, nodding in agreement at Twilight's words. Discord looked around at them all, shocked by the show of support. Only one pony had ever been on his side before, and she stepped forwards to address the two princesses alone.

"Please," Fluttershy begged, her teal eyes wide with emotion. "Discord has done nothing to hurt anypony for a long time. He has good heart, I know it. Please, _please_ don't banish him."

The princesses gave Fluttershy a measuring look. Then they looked around at the other five ponies, and finally at Discord. Their expressions revealed nothing.

"I take it you have been living in the Everfree Forest?" Celestia said.

Discord nodded.

"I thought so. There have been many stories told about that place. Over the years, we realised you must have made the place your home." She glanced around at them again. "Seeing as you have lived so many years in peace with Equestria, and taking into account the help you gave us when the threat of Nightmare Moon arose—" here Luna cringed again, "—I see no reason why you can't continue to remain there. After all, just as the sun must give way to the moon, the world needs a little chaos along with its harmony." She smiled at Luna and then Discord as she spoke.

Discord smiled and bowed his head. "Thankyou, Celestia." Then he scooped the beaming Fluttershy into his arms and declared, "Let's go home, my dear."

Fluttershy grinned and waved at the Twilight, Rainbow, Rarity, Applejack and Pinkie. "Come visit, all of you," she said, just before she and her draconequus vanished with a pop.

Celestia chuckled. "Thank you, all of you, for what you have done. You are most welcome to stay in the palace and rest before you return to your families. Or even until we have finished putting everything to rights and can hold a proper ceremony to thank our heroes."

They all bowed in gratitude.

"I need to get back to Griffonstone," Rainbow said. "I promised I'd be back to explain everything soon. But I'm happy to stay until tomorrow and help you out in the meantime."

"I should leave tomorrow too," Applejack agreed. "I wanna get back and see my family."

"Me too," chimed in Pinkie. "But I think I'll be back soon. I want to help throw this huge thank-you party for us!"

The princesses smiled. "Your help would be most welcome, Pinkie Pie," Celestia said.

"I would love to accept your kind invitation," Rarity said. "I'm not sure how much I can help, because I'll have to run and check on the store every now and then, but I'm sure Sassy can handle it without me for a few more days!"

"Of course I'll stay," Twilight added.

The princesses nodded in agreement with the plan. They asked Flash Sentry to guide each of them to a room. Exhausted, they followed along behind him as he led them to a corridor with a row of empty rooms. Having not slept properly for over twenty-four hours, Twilight only managed to smile wearily at Flash as she went into her assigned room. She collapsed on the bed and she promptly fell asleep.

Spike chuckled and gently removed the crown of the Element of Magic from her head, tucking it safely into a drawer. He made a mental note to collect the rest of the Elements and return them all to Celestia tomorrow.

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 **Hi to all my faithful readers! You guys are amazing, thanks so much. There's just one more chapter to wrap things up, but I would love a review!**

 **Love OnlyHere4Puckabrina**


	11. Chapter 11: Just Wrapping Up

**Hey everypony! It's the final chapter! This is just wrapping up all the loose ends and tying it back into the series, so you can imagine the rest of the story taking off after this. Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer as usual.**

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The next morning, Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Pinkie Pie were all set to head out bright and early. They hugged Twilight and Rarity goodbye before setting off for their individual destinations. Rarity only stayed for breakfast before rushing off to check on her boutique.

Twilight and Spike were kept busy cleaning up the damage caused by Nightmare Moon's attack throughout Canterlot. As one of the last unicorns who hadn't exhausted her magical energy, Twilight was high in demand. They also checked in at the magical school where the depleted unicorns were recovering. Twilight had been hoping to have a talk with Princess Celestia, but she saw neither princess all day. Flash Sentry, who appeared close by her at regular intervals, informed her both were resting after the events of the past week. Twilight was sorry, but was quite happy to spend time talking to Flash.

Rarity appeared again at the end of the day and assured her that all was well with the boutique. The two unicorns worked together over the next few days, helping wherever they could, which kept them extremely busy. It was amazing how many people wanted to talk to them, and Twilight was quite embarrassed about all the attention. Thankfully, Flash Sentry was always there to help turn away the over-zealous fans.

Pinkie returned within a week, and since most things that needed attending to were done, immediately started planning the big party. With the help of Spike, who had the ability to send and receive letters to anyone anywhere instantly, she sent out the invitations. They and Rarity got busy planning and decorating, so Twilight decided to take the opportunity to finally talk to Celestia.

She found the princess in her private library with Luna. The sisters were laughing about something, and both of them looked up with a smile when Twilight entered.

"Twilight, what can we do for you?" Celestia asked warmly.

"Well… I was just wondering if I could ask you a question."

"Of course. You are my student, after all."

Nervously, Twilight explained about the vision she had had when the Elements of Harmony had exploded with light.

The two princesses listened carefully, and when Twilight was finished, looked at each other thoughtfully. Finally Celestia said, "I am not sure exactly what this means, Twilight. All I can say is that it appears that your role as the Element of Magic, and your friends' as the other Elements, is not over."

Luna nodded gravely with agreement. "I agree. You seem to be destined for great things, Twilight. I am sure you will prove yourself worthy of your role to come, as you have once already." She bowed her head in acknowledgement.

"Oh, uh…thank you." Twilight bowed and excused herself, her mind spinning with even more questions.

* * *

When the day of the big ceremony rolled around, Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Fluttershy were back in Canterlot, being eagerly greeted by the other three Element bearers in the form of a massive group hug.

Fluttershy had brought Discord with her of course, as well as a pair of quiet pegasi who had to be her parents. Rainbow had her parents with her, who were as loud as Fluttershy's were quiet, as well as a retinue of griffons, led by Gilda. But it was Applejack who had brought the most ponies, even if one didn't include Rarity's sister Sweetie Belle and the Pie family. Twilight thought she must have brought all of Ponyville with her, until Applejack introduced them all ("…Apple Fritter, Apple Bumpkin, Red Gala, Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Caramel Apple, Apple Strudel, Apple Tart, Baked Apple, Apple Brioche, Apple Cinnamon Crisp…") and she realised this was just her extended family. Twilight was amazed that the palace was actually large enough to house them all.

They made up about a fifth of the crowd that piled into the massive hall where Celestia and Luna were holding the ceremony, the rest of the ponies being those from Canterlot. Twilight, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash were asked to stand at the front of this massive crowd, just to the right of the princesses, while Discord, Shining Armour and a few other important ponies were on the left.

"Greetings, everypony," Celestia called to the crowd, her regal voice carrying easily in the echoing room. "It is with great pleasure that I welcome back my sister, Princess Luna!"

The audience stomped their hooves as Luna bowed.

"But we must thank those who were able to defeat the evil spirit of Nightmare Moon and bring her back. Shining Armour, Captain of the Guard, and his deputy Joust Guardwell, who both fought bravely alongside their soldiers and citizens, even refusing to rest. For your personal efforts and for all those you represent, thank you for defending Equestria."

The audience stomped again and roared with approval.

"Headmaster Trancer, every single one of your unicorns stood alongside me during the whole of the attack. For your personal effort and for all those you represent, thank you for defending Equestria."

Another storm of applause.

"Mayor Sleighthoof, you are here on behalf of the citizens of Canterlot, who, during this time of need, rose up to defend their city and restore it to its beautiful state. For your personal effort and for all those you represent, thank you for defending Equestria."

Another round of applause.

"Discord, Lord of Chaos…" The crowd went strangely still as they stared at the draconequus. "On your own, you were able to defend the city and the ponies until the Elements of Harmony were retrieved and have proved through your actions to have undergone a transformation quite as dramatic as Nightmare Moon's." Celestia smiled as she said, "Equestria thanks you."

The applause for Discord started out hesitantly, but eventually grew to be as loud as any of the others, even if it was rather short.

Celestia stepped back, allowing Luna to say the final piece. The blue alicorn stepped forward, gazing around at the upturned faces, some curious, some cautious, some eager, and felt a fresh surge of guilt, as she had been feeling on and off since she had reverted to her regular self.

"It is I though who have to thank the six that saved all of us the most. Without the Elements of Harmony, I would have been consumed by my hatred and jealousy, and forever lost sight of what is truly important. I vow to prove myself once again worthy of your trust in me, and honour those who brought me back." She turned and knelt to the Mane Six. Celestia knelt as well, and the entire hall followed their example, except Discord, who clapped and whistled enthusiastically. No one seemed to mind.

* * *

Afterwards, Twilight, Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy all gathered together to say their goodbyes. At least, Twilight thought they would be saying goodbye.

"My boutique in Canterlot is doing splendidly!" Rarity announced. "So that means I can go back to Ponyville!"

"That's great!" Applejack cheered. "I've missed havin' ya around."

"I think I'll be there too," Fluttershy murmured.

"Really?" they asked.

The pegasus nodded. "I was considering moving there before, but I didn't know anypony, and then I met Discord and decided to stay with him in the Everfree Forest…" She blushed slightly, but continued, "But now I think I'll convince him to move the cottage to Ponyville. Or at least, just outside it."

Applejack and Rarity smiled and hugged her.

"Well if Fluttershy's going, I might as well come too," said Rainbow. They all gawked at her and she shrugged. "Gilda's got everything going smoothly with the griffons, and they've gotten pretty sick of me hanging around, to be honest."

"Well if everyone's going to be in Ponyville…" Pinkie giggled.

"Ya don't wanna stay with yerr family, Pinkie?" Applejack asked.

"Nah. I love them, but the rock farm's kind of a drag. Besides, I can always visit, and this way I can throw even more epic parties!" The others laughed and pulled her into a group hug.

"What about you, Twilight?" Fluttershy asked, looking at the unicorn who hadn't yet spoken. "Are you going to be staying in Canterlot?"

"Uh…" Twilight hesitated. For the first time in her life, she felt lonely at the thought of all her friends going away and being together without her. But she didn't see how she could justify moving to Ponyville. She had her studies here.

A shadow fell across her and Twilight looked up to see Princess Celestia. "No," said the princess. "Twilight is moving to Ponyville too."

The other five squealed and hugged her with joy, but Twilight looked at her mentor in shock. "What do you…why?" she stammered.

Celestia smiled mysteriously at her protégée. "Do not worry, Twilight. You will continue to be my student. But I feel it is time to take a new direction with your studies, to prepare you for the part you will have to play, and it will be important for you to be your friends."

Twilight still looked stunned. She looked to her friends and then back at her and asked, "Why?"

"Because you will be studying the magic of friendship."

Twilight's face split into a huge grin. Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie, Rainbow and Fluttershy looked at each other with wide smiles and then tangled themselves and Twilight into a massive group hug. Twilight squeezed them back, then looked up at Celestia. "Oh thank you, Princess Celestia. I'll study harder than ever before!"

THE END

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 **Thank you SO MUCH for reading my first ever multi-chapter fanfic. I love you all, and would definitely like to hear what you thought of the story and how I might be able to improve in the future. So please give me a review!**

 **Special thanks to those who followed the story, you guys are awesome!**

 **OnlyHere4Puckabrina**

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